In second to last chapter of the book, Dewey Dell has her last chapter. This chapter is mostly focused on how she is so upset at her father "borrowing" money from her that is actually Cora Tull's. This situation is the exact inverse of Dewey Dell's insistence on aborting the baby throughout the book: she is reluctant to give up money that isn't hers, but at the same time she is anxious to kill a baby that is only half-hers. In fact, with regards to her wish of an abortion, she actually was even willing to give sexual favors to MacGowen. Every character has a major purpose in the story: for example, Anse has tragically comic disregard for honor while Cash wages ultimately unsuccessful acts of heroism. Is the hypocrisy evident in Dewey Dell's final chapter, representative of her main purpose, or perhaps one of the major themes in the novel?- TMc-c Mar 11, 2008
I'm not sure that I really see your point. First of all, I don't think that we can compare Anse taking money from Dewey Dell to Dewey Dell searching for an abortion. It is very possible that Dewey Dell knew of or suspected what Anse would do with the money if her were to take it. She realizes that he is a selfish man, and there is no evidence in the book that she feels any type of emotion towards him. Why would she want to give him the money? Now, let me state that I AM IN NO WAY ADVOCATING FOR ABORTION, but at the same time, you are taking an incredibly naive perspective on her decision. You say that the baby is only half-hers, yet throughout the entire book, do we see any evidence that the father would support her in raising it? No. I think we can say that Dewey Dell would be pretty much left to herself with the baby. What's more, she would also be left with the shame and embarrassment of having a child out of marriage. Men can deny that they are the father of the child, but it would be pretty hard for Dewey Dell to argue that she's still a virgin when she starts to show. I in no way believe that Dewey Dell made the right choice in searching for an abortion, but we have to look at what her perspective would be in this situation. What's more, I'm pretty sure that Dewey Dell was not "willing to give sexual favors to MacGowen." I got the feeling that she was raped. Am I wrong for assuming this? - Kho-c Mar 12, 2008
No, Kho, I totally see where you are coming from and I feel the same way. I was under the impression that she was raped. If she was, that would be another thing that would factor into her decision to get the abortion. But I agree with Kho, she would be left alone to care for the baby, the father would not be there at all especially if she were raped. I think that she was thinking of her future when she made her decision, I'm sure she eventually wants to marry and and start a family, not live with her father, his new wife, and her brothers for the rest of her life, then have a baby who doesn't have a father to support it on top of all of that. I think that she was just thinking ahead and wanted to make the right decision for herself. - kfr-c Mar 12, 2008
Kfr and kho I see how you think that she was thinking ahead when it came to having an abortion. She may have been thinking about this with the money as well. She was unwilling to give up money that wasn't even hers. I don't understand what the problem with that would be. She personally would not be losing money, it wasn't hers to begin with. At this point it looks like she cares about others and would have felt bad giving that money away. She may have been thinking ahead about what would happen if she were to give that money away. However, on the other hand both of the outcomes of those situations could have been due to fear. She may have feared giving the money and she feared having a child. Both of these instances make it seem that she cares about the future, but at the same time there is a slight hint that she did it for selfish reasons. She worried about what would happen to her and not other people who could have been involved in the situation.- aja-c Mar 12, 20080
I do not know if her last chapter was really focused on hypocrisy. I know that it was not her money adn not completly her child, but i think she was more worried about how she was going to be able to "solve" one problem in her life. This is where her selfishness comes in. Her and her father are doing anything they can to provide for themselves. She went out of her way to ask for money so she cuold get an abortion. Also I agree with the idea about mayeb she was planning ahead. I don't think in the time period of the book there were places that would help women like her considering abortions were so secretive in the story. I think she knew that if she had a baby now she would be stuck and she would be suck with her family that i think she wants to be away from. So i do not thinkit is so much hypocrisy, but just more about her selfishness.- JJa-c Mar 13, 2008
I think that the hypocracy in Dewey Dell is that she was spending the whole time in the novel trying to find a way to end a life instead of mourning the life that had already gone. Its another kind of morbid twist to the whole proceding of the story that is definently one of the themes of a conflict of the heart in the book. Here Dewey Dell is able to put up with carting around a corpse across half the county because she knows at the end that she could get what she wants and that is the ending of her baby's life. This may be why throughout the book her look or her appearance aways seems to be associated with death. The ironic twist is that while she does get the abortion that she wanted she ends up getting raped anyways and may have a baby again and be in the exact same situation except with the extra baggage of being raped as well. This is one of the point that I disagree with you TMc I really don't think that she had any idea that MacGowen was going to do with her and that she even agreed to the intercorse. If you remeber MacGowen told her to go down into the basement because he still had to continue the "procedure". From this and the fact that Dewey Dell never offered herself up to MacGowen and the abortion medicine was already given to her before she was raped shows that this is an act that only one person wanted and it was not Dewey Dell. - DGr-c
I'm not sure that I really see your point. First of all, I don't think that we can compare Anse taking money from Dewey Dell to Dewey Dell searching for an abortion. It is very possible that Dewey Dell knew of or suspected what Anse would do with the money if her were to take it. She realizes that he is a selfish man, and there is no evidence in the book that she feels any type of emotion towards him. Why would she want to give him the money? Now, let me state that I AM IN NO WAY ADVOCATING FOR ABORTION, but at the same time, you are taking an incredibly naive perspective on her decision. You say that the baby is only half-hers, yet throughout the entire book, do we see any evidence that the father would support her in raising it? No. I think we can say that Dewey Dell would be pretty much left to herself with the baby. What's more, she would also be left with the shame and embarrassment of having a child out of marriage. Men can deny that they are the father of the child, but it would be pretty hard for Dewey Dell to argue that she's still a virgin when she starts to show. I in no way believe that Dewey Dell made the right choice in searching for an abortion, but we have to look at what her perspective would be in this situation. What's more, I'm pretty sure that Dewey Dell was not "willing to give sexual favors to MacGowen." I got the feeling that she was raped. Am I wrong for assuming this? -
No, Kho, I totally see where you are coming from and I feel the same way. I was under the impression that she was raped. If she was, that would be another thing that would factor into her decision to get the abortion. But I agree with Kho, she would be left alone to care for the baby, the father would not be there at all especially if she were raped. I think that she was thinking of her future when she made her decision, I'm sure she eventually wants to marry and and start a family, not live with her father, his new wife, and her brothers for the rest of her life, then have a baby who doesn't have a father to support it on top of all of that. I think that she was just thinking ahead and wanted to make the right decision for herself. -
Kfr and kho I see how you think that she was thinking ahead when it came to having an abortion. She may have been thinking about this with the money as well. She was unwilling to give up money that wasn't even hers. I don't understand what the problem with that would be. She personally would not be losing money, it wasn't hers to begin with. At this point it looks like she cares about others and would have felt bad giving that money away. She may have been thinking ahead about what would happen if she were to give that money away. However, on the other hand both of the outcomes of those situations could have been due to fear. She may have feared giving the money and she feared having a child. Both of these instances make it seem that she cares about the future, but at the same time there is a slight hint that she did it for selfish reasons. She worried about what would happen to her and not other people who could have been involved in the situation.-
I do not know if her last chapter was really focused on hypocrisy. I know that it was not her money adn not completly her child, but i think she was more worried about how she was going to be able to "solve" one problem in her life. This is where her selfishness comes in. Her and her father are doing anything they can to provide for themselves. She went out of her way to ask for money so she cuold get an abortion. Also I agree with the idea about mayeb she was planning ahead. I don't think in the time period of the book there were places that would help women like her considering abortions were so secretive in the story. I think she knew that if she had a baby now she would be stuck and she would be suck with her family that i think she wants to be away from. So i do not thinkit is so much hypocrisy, but just more about her selfishness.-
I think that the hypocracy in Dewey Dell is that she was spending the whole time in the novel trying to find a way to end a life instead of mourning the life that had already gone. Its another kind of morbid twist to the whole proceding of the story that is definently one of the themes of a conflict of the heart in the book. Here Dewey Dell is able to put up with carting around a corpse across half the county because she knows at the end that she could get what she wants and that is the ending of her baby's life. This may be why throughout the book her look or her appearance aways seems to be associated with death. The ironic twist is that while she does get the abortion that she wanted she ends up getting raped anyways and may have a baby again and be in the exact same situation except with the extra baggage of being raped as well. This is one of the point that I disagree with you TMc I really don't think that she had any idea that MacGowen was going to do with her and that she even agreed to the intercorse. If you remeber MacGowen told her to go down into the basement because he still had to continue the "procedure". From this and the fact that Dewey Dell never offered herself up to MacGowen and the abortion medicine was already given to her before she was raped shows that this is an act that only one person wanted and it was not Dewey Dell.
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